George Mackley-Wilma Keyes Correspondence Collection

The collection contains correspondence from George Mackley, Elizabeth Andrews (Lib), Harold Hugo, Emily Mackley and Pamela Mackley to Wilma Keyes from 1949 through 1983. Also included are 8 examples of Mackley's work.

In 1949, Miss Keyes traveled to England and while there attended an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. She was particularly interested in the wood engravings of George Mackley and contacted him. The two corresponded between 1949 and 1981. Mackley sent Keyes quantities of his wood engravings on consignment and Miss Keyes was successful in selling them. Her friend Harold Hugo, director of the Meriden Gravure Company was a collector of Mackley and also corresponded. A faculty member and his wife (Henry and Elizabeth Andrews) framed and sold a number of prints and, while in England, made a special point of meeting Mackley.

In failing health in his later years, Mackley was no longer able to hold the engraving tools and turned to water colors, three of which he sent to Miss Keyes and are part of the collection. Miss Keyes has also included four engravings and one pencil sketch in her donation.

The original collection also included two books, both of which have been catalogued and are available in the Dodd Center: Wood Engraving (C 4829) and George Mackley's Picture Book (WNE 17).